People

United Electric Supply Co. (New Castle, Del.): George Vorwick, Jr. is now CEO, succeeding Tom Cloud, who has retired after 36 years with the company. Vorwick has 30 years of business experience in sales and management in the electrical wholesale industry. Since joining United Electric Supply in 2000 he has held a number of positions including branch manager, sales manager and regional V.P. of sales in the Maryland, District of Columbia and northern Virginia region.

IDEA (Rosslyn, Va.):Michael Wentz, formerly of Activant Solutions, has joined the sales and marketing team as the national sales manager. He has more than 20 years of distribution and technology experience and has expertise in a variety of industries, including electrical, plumbing, HVAC, industrial, medical, electronics, lighting, safety products, fasteners and food distribution.

Wentz also has helped hundreds of distributors develop technology plans to increase sales, improve customer service and decrease operating expenses. He co-founded an early e-business venture that facilitated transaction cost reduction and information flow in the building trades supply chain. He is active with NAED, ALA and ASA and has worked closely with industry marketing groups such as A-D and IMARK. Wentz has a B.A. in marketing and communications from Bloomsburg University.

Butler Supply Inc. (Fenton, Mo.):Bill Kuempel has been named CEO of Butler Supply Inc. He has been part of the Butler Supply organization since 1984 and has previously served as branch manager, senior V.P., COO and president. He succeeds John Duda, who remains as chairman.

Cooper Industries, Houston, announced several changes in senior management, including the retirement of Terry A. Klebe as senior vice president and chief financial officer after 15 years with the company and the appointment of Neil Schrimsher as executive vice president, Cooper Connection, a role in which he will oversee four of Cooper's electrical products divisions — Cooper B-Line, Cooper Bussmann, Cooper Wiring Devices and Cooper Lighting. These four units, which represent approximately 40 percent of the company's total revenue, are bound by a common distribution channel and primarily serve commercial, industrial and residential markets. Schrimsher will maintain his position as president of Cooper Lighting.

In other personnel changes at Cooper, Mark Eubanks has been named as V.P. and general manager, Cooper Lighting, reporting to Schrimsher. He most recently was vice president and general manager, Architectural & Lighting Control Products.

National Electrical Manufacturers Representatives Association (Portsmouth, N.H.): At the NEMRA national conference held last month in New York, Electrical Wholesaling magazine named its 2010 GEM Award Winners for independent representatives. Mike Gorin of Atlanta's Gorin Hopper McCoy won the GEM Award and Mike Cuddy of Renaissance Electrical Marketing Inc. (RENMARK), Pittsburgh, won the GEM Rising Star Award.

Generac Power Systems (Waukesha, Wis.):Terry Dolan was named senior V.P. of sales. He has extensive experience working in complex engineered product environments, as well as multi-faceted channel experience. Before joining Generac, Dolan helped to lead and implement the sales and marketing strategies on a global level for major manufacturing companies in the U.S. Most recently, he was senior V.P. of marketing and business development for Boart Longyear, an integrated minerals exploration services provider and drilling products manufacturer. He is a graduate of Concordia University, Mequon, Wis., with a degree in business management and communications.

EiKO Ltd. (Shawnee Mission, Kan.):Geoff Turner is the company's new Western regional sales manager for the large lamp division. Turner brings 12 years of sales management, lighting and electrical experience to EiKO. In this position, Turner will collaborate with buying groups, manage current and new sales representatives, work alongside other large lamp sales managers and assist customers with lighting requests and technical inquiries.

Horizon Solutions (Rochester, N.Y.):Stephen Couture has joined the firm's Lighting and Energy Services Group as business development manager in upstate New York. Couture has an extensive background in the lighting and energy-efficiency business and electrical distribution in the Northeast, said Horizon in a release. His responsibilities will center on design and implementation of energy-efficient systems and working with new and existing customers while maximizing available rebates and utility incentive programs to help offset costs.

Cooper Tools (Raleigh, N.C.):Laura Ulz was named president of Cooper Tools. She joined Cooper in 2007 as vice president of operations and since then has been responsible for leading Cooper's manufacturing, sourcing, supply chain, quality and continuous improvement groups. She will continue to oversee these functions in her new expanded role. Prior to joining Cooper, Ulz worked for Honeywell International and Texas Instruments. Ulz holds an MBA from the University of Wisconsin and a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from Iowa State University. Ulz succeeds Gary Masse, who is leaving Cooper to explore other opportunities, the company said.

BJ Electric Supply Inc. (Madison, Wis.):Maureen Barsema, vice president and CFO, will be NAED's incoming South Central Region vice president-elect. She has been in the industry for 28 years and has served on NAED's South Central Region Council, Performance Analysis Committee and Reverse Logistics Committee. She also is a Network Chair for the U.S. Electrical Divisional Board of Affiliated Distributors.

Rittal Corp. (Urbana, Ohio):Ken Fairleigh has joined the company to serve as president. Fairleigh has more than 25 years of experience in global sales management, marketing, distribution and operations. Prior to joining Rittal, he held positions at General Electric, Square D and Fluke, and most recently served as vice president and general manager of Rexnord in the product service group. At Rittal, Fairleigh will be responsible for all aspects of the business, including marketing, sales and manufacturing. He will be focused on improving the company's operations, client relations and product and service delivery.

Crescent Electric Supply Co. (East Dubuque, Ill.):Richard Schmid is now senior vice president. He started with the company in 1977 and held roles of increasing responsibility, including his previous position as vice president of marketing. Schmid remains a member of the company's board of directors. In other news at the company, Richard Cody was named V.P., supplier management. He has been with the company for five years and most recently served as vice president of sales.

Emerson Electric (St. Louis):Frank Dellaquila is now senior V.P. and chief financial officer, succeeding Walter Galvin, who has served as CFO for 17 years. Galvin will remain as vice chairman, and Dellaquila will join the Office of the Chief Executive (OCE) and report to David Farr, chairman, CEO and president. Dellaquila has been a senior V.P. of finance and Emerson's controller since 2009. He has a bachelor's degree in accounting from Fordham University and a master's degree in business administration from Columbia University.

Dialight (Farmingdale, N.J.):Daniel Polito is now chief marketing officer. He brings more than 25 years of international marketing management experience to Dialight, including posts as president of the North American operations for Enfis Lighting, a LED lighting technology manufacturer based in the U.K.; chief marketing officer at Lamina Lighting; vice president of marketing at Environmental Lighting Concepts (ELC); and vice president of marketing at both Thomson/Reuters and Dun & Bradstreet Corp. He will oversee all areas of the company's marketing efforts targeting the industrial, commercial, hazardous location and various infrastructure markets and will report directly to Dialight CEO Roy Burton.

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